


We Have Come To Terms

by kyburg



Category: The Big O
Genre: Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Living Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:34:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21856912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyburg/pseuds/kyburg
Summary: It's the early days of the relationship Roger Smith put into motion by accepting the android client, R. Dorothy Wayneright into his home.  Norman the butler might have been delighted with the extra help but initially?  Neither of them was very sure of the other.
Relationships: Roger Smith/R. Dorothy Wayneright
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	We Have Come To Terms

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ikarusonesun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikarusonesun/gifts).



> The Big O is easily one of my favorite anime. Thank you so much for letting me have a romp! 
> 
> BIG O. SHOWTIME.

Amazing. Delightful. Surprising. 

Intrusive? Oh well, sure. But the trade offs for Roger Smith were worth the surprises. Dorothy, by whatever other names she had or should have had, was one of those marvels of memory the city presented its top Negotiator with. Almost, as if it was a gift, or a clue to its history - he didn't know which, and frankly didn't care.

Such a thing as a long memory wasn't in his experience, after all. It didn't exist for anyone in the City of Amnesia, Paradigm City.

But Dorothy? Dorothy was a living memory, if you called her living. Android, after all.

Someone's memory, and by all indications - a very cherished one.

But she said the man who claimed her as his daughter - wasn't her father, and the person she claimed as her father, she couldn't name.

It was something to consider, to be sure - but after mixing it up with Dorothy I (the nerve of Beck using his Dorothy as some kind of control nexus, that still rankled), the only place Roger felt Dorothy belonged was where he could protect her.

That was the terms of the agreement he'd made. That he would protect her?

The fact she had no other place to go? Beside the point.

Norman was happy. Roger was entertained.

And Dorothy?

Dorothy kept reminding him she was not human in the most audacious ways. Like acting as a light source during a blackout by opening the memory tray in her forehead.

But played blues piano with every effort of making it real - and failing - then claiming she had done so because she felt like it.

She felt. An android?

But, as she had reminded him - he hadn't realized it at first, and he often forgot. Whether he did it on purpose or during a case of wishful thinking, he had to believe it was true.

Dorothy - delightful, pretty and a walking mystery wrapped in a miasma of memories - was her own person, worthy of protection even though the kind of protection she actually needed from Roger wasn't entirely clear.

She was a memory. She had a history, unclear and Roger wasn't entirely sure it was safe to pry too much into getting the answer.

But for now, she was his Dorothy; client, houseguest and nearly complete mystery.

And that was so much fun, it made him giddy - just a little. Happy, and it made matching wills with her all the better. It might be metal, but he liked the backbone in her. 

He really, really liked the way she called him a louse. She meant it, but she could have called him so many other things instead and simply refused to cooperate afterward.

If she felt like playing the blues, perhaps she also trusted him, felt safe with him?

Oh, that was nice indeed.

Delightful.

###

Charming.

Yes, that's what that was called. He had charm.

He was fair, personable and receptive. Used the proper greetings, set boundaries that were clearly defined and achievable. Had no difficulty explaining his expectations or reciting rules.

Rules, which often appeared to be more capricious than anything else.

But they were consistent, and that was good for Dorothy.

The mint green dress had not been as flattering as the black dress provided by Norman, but she wasn't about to admit that. No, don't flatter his ego, it was inflated quite enough. Yes, inflated. That was an accurate term for it.

But it was pretty, and it made her look imposing, even mature? Yes. That was a good thing, for an android in the body of a sweet girl.

There were things to do, and information to acquire, learning and practice to mimic behaviors (failing mostly) but opportunities to see more of them, remember and categorize them for later.

Hourglasses to turn over to see the sand run out of them, noting the minute differences in time spent as they ran out. No, not waiting or worried. It was simply to pass the time. Marking it, noting how it passed.

Waiting for that safe feeling with the name Roger Smith to return. Is that what it was?

He certainly did not like it when she was used badly. As if she was another living creature, valued and loved - which she knew, as an artificial creature, she did not qualify for. She often wondered if Roger forgot in the press of events, or if he believed she was worthy of that protection, regardless of whether she was a living girl...or an android built to replace one.

He complained constantly of her mimicry, but when she revealed her true nature - it was received equally poorly.

So, where nobody could notice, Dorothy learned the concept of a prank. Less mechanical? Okay, let her keep track of the time to the minute. But wake him playing the piano, instead of standing bedside to insist he wake. It was all the same.

So even tempered. Yes, he set boundaries but he would be a poor Negotiator if he could not do that. The fact he did it so easily, selfless but only superficially so.

Kind. Yes, he was kind. That was what that was called.

That jerk.

###

So Dorothy was going to live with him. And Roger was going to be her protector, as much or as little as that actually was needed. Roger thought to himself often that was going to largely keep her from returning to her creators or their associates that had allowed her to come to harm in the first place. Clearly, Dorothy was nearly indestructible otherwise.

Those creators did not appreciate her for the marvel she was. Which had been so clear, Roger had seen it the first moments he had known her. Such an individual. Clever girl, adaptable and Roger had never had to repeat himself, or explain anything more than once.

Unless it was to remind her to stop trying to mimic humans, when she wasn't one. And he didn't need her to be human, no.

Dorothy's charm was Dorothy, android and all.

She was amazing.

It was so simple to accept Roger's kindness, despite also accepting his rules and expectations.

He just kept wanting something difficult for Dorothy to discern.

Roger kept wanting to say something like "showtime" to Dorothy, it simply would make things easier.

But instead, she would turn and glare at him and call him an oaf.

It was clearly a work in process.

WE HAVE COME TO TERMS.

**Author's Note:**

> Too brief, too soon for sure - but I hope you liked it. Happy Yuletide!


End file.
